Storage battery management method and storage battery management system

ABSTRACT

a storage battery management method which is performed in a communication terminal, the storage battery management method including: performing communication with a storage battery which is an object to be managed and acquiring storage battery information on the use of the storage battery; storing the acquired storage battery information every time the storage battery information is acquired; and performing communication with a management server managing the storage battery and providing, only when accepting a request for provision of the storage battery information from the management server, storage battery information of the stored storage battery information, the storage battery information in accordance with the request for provision, to the management server.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a communication terminal managing astorage battery, a storage battery management method, a storage batterymanagement system and a medium storing a storage battery managementprogram.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, storage batteries have been used in various fields.With the popularization of the storage batteries, the needs for theprovision of service to the user by grasping information on the use of astorage battery have grown.

For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.2012-147580, a technique of uploading information indicating the stateof charge of a storage battery mounted on a vehicle to a managementserver with prescribed timing is disclosed.

SUMMARY

However, with the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication No. 2012-147580, as the number of storagebatteries which are managed is increased, the amount of informationwhich is gathered in the management server is increased and the amountof data which is stored in the management server or the communicationload on the management server is undesirably increased.

One non-limiting and exemplary embodiment provides a communicationterminal that reduces the burden on a management server.

Additional benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments willbecome apparent from the specification and drawings. The benefits and/oradvantages may be individually obtained by the various embodiments andfeatures of the specification and drawings, which need not all beprovided in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and/oradvantages.

In one general aspect, the techniques disclosed here feature a storagebattery management method which is performed in a communication terminalincluding: performing communication with a storage battery which is anobject to be managed and acquiring storage battery information on a useof the storage battery; storing the acquired storage battery informationevery time the storage battery information is acquired; and performingcommunication with a management server managing the storage battery andproviding, only when accepting a request for provision of the storagebattery information from the management server, storage batteryinformation of the stored storage battery information, the storagebattery information in accordance with the request for provision, to themanagement server.

The communication terminal stores the acquired storage batteryinformation every time the communication terminal acquires the storagebattery information from the storage battery. Then, only when themanagement server makes a request for provision of the storage batteryinformation, the communication terminal provides the storage batteryinformation in accordance with the request for provision to themanagement server. As a result, the management server can acquiredesired storage battery information from a mobile terminal if there isdesired storage battery information without storing the storage batteryinformation at all times, which makes it possible to reduce thecommunication load between the communication terminals in the managementserver.

It should be noted that general or specific embodiments may beimplemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computerprogram, a storage medium, or any selective combination thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a storage battery management system;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting the configurations of a mobileterminal, a storage battery unit, and a management server;

FIG. 3 depicts an example of information which is stored in a storagebattery management database of the mobile terminal;

FIG. 4 depicts an example of information which is stored in a serverdatabase of the management server;

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram depicting an operation concerning storagebattery information acquisition, the operation of the whole of thestorage battery management system;

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram depicting an operation concerning themanagement of the update state of storage battery information, theoperation in the mobile terminal and the management server;

FIG. 7 depicts an example of a screen display by a display of the mobileterminal;

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram depicting an operation concerning aninquiry about storage battery information in the mobile terminal and themanagement server;

FIGS. 9A and 9B depict an example of an inquiry authenticationcondition;

FIG. 10A is a diagram explaining an inquiry in accordance with thecontents of storage battery information in a modified example (I) andFIG. 10B depicts an example of an inquiry authentication conditioncorresponding to FIG. 10A; and

FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram depicting an operation concerning aninquiry about storage battery information, the operation of the mobileterminal and the management server, in a modified example (II).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiment

Hereinafter, an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure willbe described with reference to the drawings.

A mobile terminal according to this embodiment performs communicationwith a storage battery unit and acquires and stores information(hereinafter referred to as storage battery information) on the use of astorage battery, the information held in the storage battery unit. Then,the mobile terminal performs communication with a management server anduploads, to the management server, date and time information on a dateand a time on and at which the storage battery information was acquired.The management server manages the date and time information and, if thestorage battery information has not been updated in the mobile terminalfor a long period of time, requests the mobile terminal to update thestorage battery information.

Moreover, when storage battery information is requested from themanagement server, the mobile terminal according to this embodimentprovides the requested information to the management server. This makesit possible for the management server to acquire the storage batteryinformation from the mobile terminal with necessary timing withoutholding the storage battery information.

<1. Configuration>

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting the outline of a storage batterymanagement system 1 including the mobile terminal according to thisembodiment.

In the storage battery management system 1 depicted in FIG. 1, mobileterminals 10-1 and 10-2 according to this embodiment performcommunication with a storage battery unit 20-1 and storage battery units20-2 a and 20-2 b, respectively, the storage battery units 20-1, 20-2 a,and 20-2 b being objects to be managed, via connecting cables 40-1 and40-2, respectively, and acquire and store storage battery informationheld in the storage battery units 20-1, 20-2 a, and 20-2 b. Moreover,the mobile terminals 10-1 and 10-2 each perform communication with amanagement server 30 via a public line network 50 and manage the storagebattery information of the corresponding storage battery unit incooperation with the management server 30. As described above, themobile terminal according to this embodiment manages the storage batteryinformation of one or more storage battery units.

The management server 30 receives an inquiry about storage batteryinformation from a communication terminal 60, and acquires storagebattery information in accordance with the inquiry from a mobileterminal holding the information and provides the information to thecommunication terminal 60.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting the configurations of a mobileterminal 10, a storage battery unit 20, and the management server 30. InFIG. 2, the mobile terminal 10 corresponds to the mobile terminals 10-1and 10-2 depicted in FIG. 1, the storage battery unit 20 corresponds tothe storage battery units 20-1, 20-2 a, and 20-2 b depicted in FIG. 1,and a connecting cable 40 corresponds to the connecting cables 40-1 and40-2 depicted in FIG. 1.

<1-1. Configuration of the Storage Battery Unit 20>

The storage battery unit 20 includes a storage battery 21, a controllingportion 22, and a communicating portion 23.

The controlling portion 22 has the function of controlling charge anddischarge of the storage battery 21 and holding the storage batteryinformation. The storage battery information is, for example, charge anddischarge historical information of the storage battery 21 such as acharging time, the number of times the storage battery 21 is charged, adischarging time, or the number of times the storage battery 21 isdischarged or information on a load on which discharge is to beperformed.

The communicating portion 23 has the function of performingcommunication with a mobile terminal-to-storage battery unitcommunicating portion 11, which will be described later, of the mobileterminal 10 via the connecting cable 40 and providing the storagebattery information held in the controlling portion 22 to the mobileterminal 10.

<1-2. Configuration of the Mobile Terminal 10>

The mobile terminal 10 includes the mobile terminal-to-storage batteryunit communicating portion 11, a storage battery management database 12,a network communicating portion 13, and a display 14.

The mobile terminal-to-storage battery unit communicating portion 11 hasthe function of performing communication with the communicating portion23 of the storage battery unit 20 via the connecting cable 40. Inaddition, the mobile terminal-to-storage battery unit communicatingportion 11 has the function of being provided with the storage batteryinformation from the communicating portion 23 and outputting the storagebattery information to the storage battery management database 12. Themobile terminal-to-storage battery unit communicating portion 11corresponds to a first communicator of the present disclosure.

The storage battery management database 12 has the function of storingthe storage battery information output from the mobileterminal-to-storage battery unit communicating portion 11 and storingupdate date and time information indicating a date and a time (theupdate date and time of the storage battery information) on and at whichthe storage battery information was stored.

Incidentally, the mobile terminal 10 may store the storage batteryinformation acquired in the mobile terminal-to-storage battery unitcommunicating portion 11 in the storage battery management database 12as it is or store the acquired storage battery information in thestorage battery management database 12 after processing the acquiredstorage battery information into a predicted life, an accumulatedcharging time, or the like by an application, for example.

FIG. 3 depicts an example of information which is stored in the storagebattery management database 12. In the storage battery managementdatabase 12 depicted in FIG. 3, for each update date and time of thestorage battery information, as the storage battery information, dateand time information on a date and a time (“charging date and time”) onand at which the storage battery was charged, the ratio of the amount ofcharge to the storage battery capacity (“amount of charge”), date andtime information on a date and a time (“discharging date and time”) onand at which the storage battery was discharged, and the ratio of theamount of discharge to the storage battery capacity (“amount ofdischarge”) are stored. Moreover, in FIG. 3, predicted life statusinformation is stored and schematically indicates the status of apredicted life by using a circle. The predicted life of the storagebattery can be estimated based on the charge and discharge historicalinformation, for example.

Back in FIG. 2, the explanation will be continued.

The network communicating portion 13 has the function of performingcommunication with a communicating portion 33 of the management server30 via the public line network 50. In addition, the networkcommunicating portion 13 has the function of providing the update dateand time information and the ID information of the storage battery tothe management server 30 every time the storage battery information isupdated in the storage battery management database 12. Moreover, thenetwork communicating portion 13 has the function of providing thestorage battery information to the management server 30 and outputtingan instruction from the management server 30 to the display 14. Thedetails will be described in <2. Operation> which will be describedlater. The network communicating portion 13 corresponds to a secondcommunicator of the present disclosure.

The display 14 has the function of receiving an instruction from themanagement server 30, the instruction output from the networkcommunicating portion 13, and performing, on a display (not depicted inthe drawing) provided in the mobile terminal 10, a screen display urgingupdate of the storage battery information.

<1-3. Configuration of the Management Server 30>

The management server 30 includes a server database 31, a managingportion 32, and the communicating portion 33.

The server database 31 has the function of storing the update date andtime information of the storage battery information, the update date andtime information provided from the mobile terminal 10 via thecommunicating portion 33, in a state in which the update date and timeinformation is related to the ID information of the storage battery.

FIG. 4 depicts an example of information which is stored in the serverdatabase 31. In the server database 31 depicted in FIG. 4, IDinformation (“mobile terminal ID”) of a mobile terminal which isconnected to the management server 30 and ID information (“storagebattery ID”) of a storage battery corresponding to each mobile terminalare stored in a state in which the mobile terminal ID and the storagebattery ID are related to each other, and information (“latest updatedate and time”) indicating the last date and time on and at which thestorage battery information was acquired in each mobile terminal isstored.

Back in FIG. 2, the explanation will be continued.

The communicating portion 33 has the function of performingcommunication with the network communicating portion 13 of the mobileterminal 10 via the public line network 50 and performing communicationwith the communication terminal 60 of an inquirer who requests theprovision of the storage battery information. The details will bedescribed in <2. Operation> which will be described later.

The managing portion 32 has the function of managing the update state ofthe storage battery information in the mobile terminal 10 by monitoringthe server database 31 and performing authentication of an inquiry aboutthe storage battery information. The details will be described in <2.Operation> which will be described below.

<2. Operation>

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram depicting an operation concerning storagebattery information acquisition, the operation of the whole of thestorage battery management system 1.

If the mobile terminal 10 and the storage battery unit 20 are connectedby the connecting cable 40 (step S101: YES), the communicating portion23 of the storage battery unit 20 provides the storage batteryinformation held in the controlling portion 22 to the mobileterminal-to-storage battery unit communicating portion 11 of the mobileterminal 10 (step S102). The mobile terminal-to-storage battery unitcommunicating portion 11 of the mobile terminal 10 outputs the storagebattery information thus provided to the storage battery managementdatabase 12. The storage battery management database 12 stores theoutput storage battery information and the update date and timeinformation of the storage battery information (step S103). If thestorage battery information is updated in the storage battery managementdatabase 12, the network communicating portion 13 provides the updatedate and time information of the storage battery information and the IDinformation of the storage battery to the management server 30 (stepS104). The communicating portion 33 of the management server 30 acceptsthe provision of these information and outputs the information to theserver database 31. The server database 31 stores the update date andtime information output from the communicating portion 33 in a state inwhich the update date and time information is related to the storagebattery ID and the mobile terminal ID (step S105).

As described above, every time the storage battery information isupdated, as a result of the mobile terminal 10 providing the update dateand time information of the storage battery information and the IDinformation of the storage battery to the management server 30, themanagement server 30 can manage the update state of the storage batteryinformation in the mobile terminal 10.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram indicating an operation concerning themanagement of the update state of the storage battery information, theoperation in the mobile terminal 10 and the management server 30.

The managing portion 32 of the management server 30 regularly performsmonitoring to determine whether or not a period in which the storagebattery information has not been updated is longer than a firstpredetermined period for each of the storage batteries (mobileterminals) which are objects to be managed by referring to the serverdatabase 31 (step S201). If the period is not longer than the firstpredetermined period (step S201: NO), the processing in step S201 isrepeatedly performed.

On the other hand, if the period in which the storage batteryinformation has not been updated is longer than the first predeterminedperiod (step S201: YES) and is not longer than a second predeterminedperiod (step S202: NO), the managing portion 32 gives an instruction tothe communicating portion 33 to notify the mobile terminal 10corresponding to the storage battery of an instruction to request updateof the storage battery information. Then, the communicating portion 33notifies the mobile terminal 10 of the instruction to request update ofthe storage battery information and the ID information of the storagebattery whose update is requested (step S203). The network communicatingportion 13 of the mobile terminal 10 receives the notification from thecommunicating portion 33 of the management server 30 and makes thedisplay 14 perform a screen display urging update of the storage batteryinformation (step S204). As a result of this screen display, if themobile terminal 10 and the storage battery unit 20 are connected by theconnecting cable 40 (FIG. 5: step S101: YES), the mobile terminal 10,the storage battery unit 20, and the management server 30 perform theoperation concerning the storage battery information acquisition whichhas been described in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 depicts an example of the screen display urging update of thestorage battery information, the screen display performed by the display14. If the storage battery information has not been updated for a longperiod of time, it causes a problem in the management of the storagebattery by the management server 30. By making the display of the mobileterminal 10 perform a screen display urging update of the storagebattery information, the management server 30 can prevent a situation inwhich the storage battery information has not been updated for a longperiod of time.

Back in FIG. 6, the explanation will be continued.

Moreover, if the period in which the storage battery information has notbeen updated is longer than the first predetermined period (step S201:YES) and is longer than the second predetermined period (step S202:YES), the managing portion 32 of the management server 30 notifies aprovider of the storage battery management system 1 of the situation inwhich the storage battery information has not been updated in the mobileterminal 10 for a long period of time (step S205). This notificationmakes it possible for the provider of the storage battery managementsystem 1 to deal with the situation in which the storage batteryinformation has not been updated for a long period of time.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram depicting an operation concerning aninquiry about the storage battery information in the mobile terminal 10and the management server 30.

For example, a user who makes an inquiry about the storage batteryinformation (hereinafter referred to as an inquiry user) notifies themanagement server 30 of inquiry user identification ID information andinquiry target storage battery ID information from the communicationterminal 60.

If the communicating portion 33 of the management server 30 is notifiedof the inquiry user identification ID information and the inquiry targetstorage battery ID information from the communication terminal 60, thecommunicating portion 33 outputs the information thus notified to themanaging portion 32 (step S301: YES). The managing portion 32 performsauthentication as to whether or not to accept the inquiry based on theinquiry user identification ID information and the inquiry targetstorage battery ID information which were output from the communicatingportion 33 and a previously set inquiry authentication condition (stepS302). If the inquiry is not accepted (step S302: NO), the managingportion 32 notifies the communication terminal 60 of the inquiry userthat the inquiry is not accepted (step S303).

On the other hand, if the inquiry is accepted (step S302: YES), themanaging portion 32 gives an instruction to the communicating portion 33to notify the mobile terminal 10 corresponding to the inquiry targetstorage battery of an instruction to request the provision of thestorage battery information. Then, the communicating portion 33 notifiesthe mobile terminal 10 of the instruction to request the provision ofthe storage battery information and the ID information of the inquirytarget storage battery (step S304). The network communicating portion 13of the mobile terminal 10 receives the notification from thecommunicating portion 33 of the management server 30 and provides thestorage battery information stored in the storage battery managementdatabase 12 to the management server 30 (step S305). When being providedwith the storage battery information from the mobile terminal 10, thecommunicating portion 33 of the management server 30 provides thestorage battery information thus provided to the communication terminal60 of the inquiry user (step S306).

Here, an inquiry authentication method in the managing portion 32 willbe described.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams depicting an example of an inquiryauthentication condition. As depicted in FIG. 9A, for example, storagebatteries are classified into storage battery categories, and, asdepicted in FIG. 9B, a storage battery (a storage battery category) forwhich an inquiry is accepted is set for each inquiry user category. Inaddition, the managing portion 32 may be made to store such anauthentication condition in advance such that, if the inquiry useridentification ID information and the inquiry target storage battery IDinformation which were output from the communicating portion 33 meet theauthentication condition, the inquiry is accepted; if the inquiry useridentification ID information and the inquiry target storage battery IDinformation do not meet the authentication condition, the inquiry is notaccepted.

Incidentally, the storage battery categories simply have to be set inaccordance with the needs of the inquiry user and may be classifiedbased on, for example, the capacity and type of the storage battery, aload which is used, or the like.

As described above, as a result of the management server 30 performingauthentication of a storage battery information inquiry, it becomespossible to limit access to the storage battery information. Moreover,as described in FIG. 6, the management server 30 performs management insuch a way as to prevent a situation in which the storage batteryinformation has not been updated in the mobile terminal 10 for a longperiod of time. Therefore, if an inquiry about storage batteryinformation is made to the management server 30, the management server30 can immediately acquire the latest storage battery information fromthe mobile terminal 10 and provide the storage battery information tothe inquirer.

The mobile terminal 10 according to this embodiment acquires and holdsstorage battery information and, every time the storage batteryinformation is updated, provides the update date and time information ofthe storage battery information to the management server 30. This allowsthe management server 30 to manage the update state of the storagebattery information in the mobile terminal 10 and acquire the storagebattery information from the mobile terminal 10 with necessary timing.With the mobile terminal 10 according to this embodiment, it is possibleto manage the storage battery information in cooperation with themanagement server 30 and reduce the amount of data which is stored inthe management server 30 or a communication load in the managementserver 30.

<3. Modified Example (I)>

In the storage battery management system 1 of the embodiment describedabove, the management server 30 may receive an inquiry in accordancewith the type of storage battery information. Furthermore, themanagement server 30 may perform authentication of an inquiry inaccordance with the type of storage battery information.

Hereinafter, specific descriptions will be given by using FIGS. 10A and10B.

For example, as depicted in FIG. 10A, in addition to the inquiry useridentification ID information (“100p”) and the inquiry target storagebattery ID information (“y002”), an inquirer further inputs the type(“life”) of storage battery information about which an inquiry is madeto the communication terminal 60. The communication terminal 60 notifiesthe management server 30 of these input information (FIG. 8: step S301).

The management server 30 performs authentication of the inquiry made bythe inquiry user based on the input information and the authenticationcondition depicted in FIG. 10B, for example (step S302). In FIG. 10B,since an inquiry about the storage battery information (type: “life”) ofthe storage battery (storage battery ID: “y002”) made by the inquiryuser (user ID: “001p”) is accepted (step S302: YES), the managementserver 30 requests the storage battery information on the life of theinquiry target storage battery from the mobile terminal 10 correspondingto the inquiry target storage battery (step S304). Then, the mobileterminal 10 provides the requested information to the management server30 (step S305), and the management server 30 provides the informationprovided from the mobile terminal 10 to the communication terminal 60(step S306).

In this modified example, the inquiry user can select desired storagebattery information and make an inquiry. Moreover, the management server30 can make the fine settings and perform management as to whether ornot to accept an inquiry in accordance with the type of storage batteryinformation.

Incidentally, in the embodiment described above and this modifiedexample, an example in which storage battery information is acquired foreach inquiry target storage battery has been described, but aconfiguration may be adopted in which an inquiry user can collectivelyacquire storage battery information of storage batteries under a storagebattery category. In that case, as an authentication condition, forexample, a storage battery category for which an inquiry is accepted inaccordance with an inquiry user may be set in the management server 30.

<4. Modified Example (II)>

In the embodiment described above, the operation concerning an inquiryabout storage battery information in the mobile terminal 10 and themanagement server 30, the operation described in FIG. 8, may be modifiedas depicted in FIG. 11.

In FIG. 11, in addition to each processing described in FIG. 8,processing in steps S401 to S403 which is performed by the mobileterminal 10 is added.

Specifically, when receiving an instruction to request the provision ofstorage battery information from the management server 30, the networkcommunicating portion 13 of the mobile terminal 10 refers to the storagebattery management database 12 and checks whether or not the storagebattery information about which the request instruction was given hasbeen updated within a predetermined period with reference to the time atwhich the storage battery management database 12 was referred to (stepS401). If the storage battery information has been updated within thepredetermined period (step S401: YES), as is the case with theembodiment described above, the network communicating portion 13provides the storage battery information stored in the storage batterymanagement database 12 to the management server 30 (step S305).

On the other hand, if the storage battery information has not beenupdated within the predetermined period (step S401: NO), the networkcommunicating portion 13 makes the display 14 perform a screen displayurging update of the storage battery information (step S402). Then, ifupdate of the storage battery information is performed (step S403: YES),the network communicating portion 13 provides the storage batteryinformation stored in the storage battery management database 12 to themanagement server 30 (step S305). The processing in step S402 isrepeatedly performed until the storage battery information is updated(step S402: NO).

This modified example makes it possible for the mobile terminal 10 andthe management server 30 to provide the latest storage batteryinformation to the inquiry user.

<5. Modified Example (III)>

The above description deals with a case in which, in the storage batterymanagement system 1 of the embodiment described above, if the storagebattery information stored in the mobile terminal 10 has not beenupdated for a long period of time, the management server 30 notifies theprovider of the storage battery management system 1 that the storagebattery information stored in the mobile terminal 10 has not beenupdated for a long period of time (FIG. 5: step S205). If the storagebattery has not been updated for a long period of time, the managementserver 30 cannot acquire the storage battery information during thatperiod and, even when an unusual event that causes trouble to the use ofthe storage battery occurs, the management server 30 cannot grasp theunusual event. Thus, if the storage battery has not been updated for along period of time, the management server 30 may determine that thestorage battery is under unusual conditions and take measures such asstopping the use of the storage battery or putting a restriction on thesecondary use of the storage battery.

Moreover, the above description deals with a case in which, in thestorage battery management system 1 of the embodiment described above,if the storage battery information is updated, the mobile terminal 10provides the update date and time information of the storage batteryinformation to the management server 30 (FIG. 5: step S104). This allowsthe management server 30 to manage the update of the storage batteryinformation; in addition to that, the management server 30 may beallowed to further perform management as to whether or not an unusualevent occurs in the use of the storage battery. To allow the managementserver 30 to do so, for example, the mobile terminal 10 may acquire, asthe storage battery information, the contents of the storage batteryinformation from the storage battery unit 20 if an unusual event occursin the use of the storage battery and provide the contents of thestorage battery information to the management server 30 along with theupdate date and time information of the storage battery information.Some examples of the unusual event in the use of the storage batteryinclude the storage battery being charged with high voltage or thestorage battery being discharged through an undesirable load. Moreover,the mobile terminal 10 may estimate the state of the storage batterybased on the storage battery information by using an application, forexample, to determine whether or not the storage battery is underunusual conditions and provide the information to the management server30 along with the update date and time information of the storagebattery information.

<6. Supplementary Explanation (I)>

The present disclosure is not limited to the descriptions given in theembodiment described above and the modified examples. The presentdisclosure can be implemented in any mode for achieving the object ofthe present disclosure and an object related thereto or associatedtherewith and may be as follows, for example.

(1) The mobile terminal 10 of the embodiment described above may acquireand hold the storage battery information of a plurality of storagebattery units 20.

(2) The storage battery unit 20 of the embodiment described above may befurther provided with the function of estimating the life of a storagebattery, and information on the life of the storage battery estimated bythe storage battery unit 20 may be provided to the mobile terminal 10.

(3) The management server 30 of the embodiment described above mayprovide information desired by the inquiry user by processing thestorage battery information acquired from the mobile terminal 10.

(4) In the storage battery management system 1 of the embodimentdescribed above, the mobile terminal 10 and the storage battery unit 20perform communication via the connecting cable 40, but the mobileterminal 10 and the storage battery unit 20 may perform communicationwithout wire.

Specifically, for example, a configuration may be adopted in which thepairing setting is made between the mobile terminal 10 and the storagebattery unit 20 in advance such that radio connection is automaticallyestablished when the mobile terminal 10 and the storage battery unit 20get closer to each other and the radio connection is automaticallydisconnected when the mobile terminal 10 and the storage battery unit 20move away from each other. As a means of radio communication, forexample, short-range radio communication such as Bluetooth® or nearfield communication (NFC) may be used.

Moreover, the storage battery unit 20 may upload the storage batteryinformation to the mobile terminal 10 at regular or irregular intervalsby using a wireless network.

(5) In the storage battery management system 1 of the embodimentdescribed above, a plurality of mobile terminals 10 may manage thestorage battery information of one storage battery unit 20 by acquiringand holding the storage battery information. When an inquiry about thestorage battery information of the one storage battery unit 20 is made,the management server 30 may acquire the information about which theinquiry was made from a mobile terminal 10 of the plurality of mobileterminals 10, the mobile terminal 10 holding the latest storage batteryinformation. Moreover, if the storage battery information about whichthe inquiry was made cannot be acquired from a certain mobile terminal10 because, for example, the mobile terminal 10 is turned off, themanagement server 30 may acquire the storage battery information fromanother mobile terminal 10. This method is useful when a plurality ofusers manage one storage battery unit 20.

(6) The above description deals with a case in which, in the storagebattery management system 1 of the embodiment described above, themanagement server 30 manages the update state of the storage batteryinformation in the mobile terminal 10 (FIG. 6). The embodiment describedabove is not limited to this case; in place of the management server 30,the mobile terminal 10 may manage the update of the storage batteryinformation.

Specifically, as is the case with the managing portion 32 of themanagement server 30, the mobile terminal 10 performs monitoring todetermine whether or not a period in which the storage batteryinformation has not been updated is longer than a predetermined periodbased on the update date and time information of the storage batteryinformation stored in the storage battery management database 12. If theperiod in which the storage battery information has not been updated islonger than the predetermined period, the mobile terminal 10 may performa screen display urging update of the storage battery information orprovide a notification to the effect that the storage batteryinformation has not been updated for a long period of time.

Incidentally, the mobile terminal 10 may perform communication with thestorage battery unit 20 without wire and automatically update thestorage battery information if the period in which the storage batteryinformation has not been updated is longer than the predeterminedperiod.

As described above, when the mobile terminal 10 manages the update ofthe storage battery information in place of the management server 30,the mobile terminal 10 does not have to provide the date and timeinformation to the management server 30 every time the mobile terminal10 acquires the storage battery information from the storage batteryunit 20. However, in that case, it is desirable that the mobile terminal10 regularly provides, to the management server 30, a notificationindicating whether or not the storage battery information is normallyupdated to make it possible to grasp the update state of the storagebattery information in the mobile terminal 10 on the management server30.

(7) The mobile terminal 10 of the embodiment described above simply hasto have the communication function of performing communication with thestorage battery unit 20 and the management server 30 and may be astationary communication terminal.

(8) Each of the component elements of the mobile terminal 10, thestorage battery unit 20, and the management server 30 described in theembodiment described above, the modified examples, and so forth may beimplemented as large scale integration (LSI) which is an integratedcircuit. In so doing, the component elements may be individuallyimplemented as one chip or may be implemented as one chip in such a wayas to include part or all of the component elements. Moreover, the name“LSI” is used here, but, depending on the difference in the degree ofintegration, it is sometimes called an integrated circuit (IC), systemLSI, super LSI, or ultra LSI. Furthermore, the technique of circuitintegration is not limited to LSI, and circuit integration may beimplemented by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Afield programmable gate array (FPGA) or a reconfigurable processor thatallows the connection and settings of circuit cells in LSI to bereconfigured may be used. In addition, if the circuit integrationtechnology replacing LSI appears by the development of the semiconductortechnology or the advent of another derivative technology, it goeswithout saying that the functional blocks may be integrated by usingthat technology.

(9) At least part of the procedure of the operation of the mobileterminal 10, the storage battery unit 20, and the management server 30,the operation described in the embodiment described above, the modifiedexamples, and so forth may be described in a program and, for example, acentral processing unit (CPU) may read and execute the program stored inmemory or the program may be stored in a recording medium anddistributed, for example.

(10) The contents described in the embodiment, the modified examples,and so forth may be appropriately combined.

<7. Supplementary Explanation (II)>

The following is a short description of the communication terminal, thestorage battery management method, and the storage battery managementsystem according to the embodiment described above, the modifiedexamples, and the supplementary explanation (I).

(1) A first aspect of the present disclosure provides a storage batterymanagement method, which is performed in a communication terminal,includes performing communication with a storage battery which is anobject to be managed and acquiring storage battery information on a useof the storage battery; storing the acquired storage battery informationevery time the storage battery information is acquired, and performingcommunication with a management server managing the storage battery andproviding, only when accepting a request for provision of the storagebattery information from the management server, storage batteryinformation of the stored storage battery information, the storagebattery information in accordance with the request for provision, to themanagement server.

With the first aspect described above, the management server can acquiredesired storage battery information from the mobile terminal if there isdesired storage battery information without storing the storage batteryinformation at all times, which makes it possible to reduce acommunication load between the communication terminals in the managementserver.

(2) A second aspect of the present disclosure provides, in the firstaspect described above, the storage battery management method mayfurther provide, to the management server, date and time information ona date and a time on and at which the storage battery information hasbeen acquired.

With the second aspect described above, the management server can managethe update state of the storage battery information in the communicationterminal.

(3) A third aspect of the present disclosure provides, in the secondaspect described above, the storage battery management method mayfurther perform a screen display urging a communication terminal user toupdate the storage battery information when the update request to updatethe storage battery information from the management server is accepted.

With the third aspect described above, it is possible to urge thecommunication terminal user to update the storage battery information ifthe management server makes an update request to update the storagebattery information.

(4) A fourth aspect of the present disclosure provides, in the first orsecond aspect described above, the storage battery management methodwhich may be further perform a screen display urging a communicationterminal user to update the storage battery information when the storagebattery information stored in the memory has not been updated for alonger period of time than a predetermined period.

With the fourth aspect described above, it is possible to urge thecommunication terminal user to acquire the storage battery informationif the storage battery information stored in the memory has not beenupdated for a long period of time.

(5) A fifth aspect of the present disclosure provides a non-transitorytangible medium storing a storage battery management program which isperformed in a communication terminal performing communication with astorage battery which is an object to be managed and a managementserver, in which the storage battery management program makes thecommunication terminal acquire storage battery information on the use ofthe storage battery, store the acquired storage battery informationevery time the storage battery information is acquired, and, only whenaccepting a request for provision of the storage battery informationfrom the management server, provide storage battery information of thestored storage battery information, the storage battery information inaccordance with the request for provision, to the management server.

With the fifth aspect described above, the management server can acquiredesired storage battery information from the mobile terminal if there isdesired storage battery information without storing the storage batteryinformation at all times, which makes it possible to reduce acommunication load between the communication terminals in the managementserver.

(6) A sixth aspect of the present disclosure provides a storage batterymanagement system that manages storage battery information includes afirst communicator that performs communication with a storage batterywhich is an object to be managed and acquires storage batteryinformation on a use of the storage battery, a storing portion thatstores the acquired storage battery information every time the storagebattery information is acquired in the first communicator, a secondcommunicator that performs communication with a management servermanaging the storage battery and, only when accepting a request forprovision of the storage battery information from the management server,provides storage battery information of the storage battery informationstored in the storing portion, the storage battery information inaccordance with the request for provision, to the management server, anda third communicator that receives an inquiry about the storage batteryinformation and sends the request for provision of storage batteryinformation in accordance with the inquiry to the second communicatorfrom the management server.

With the sixth aspect described above, the communication terminal andthe management server can manage the storage battery information incooperation with each other. Specifically, the communication terminalholds the storage battery information and the management server canacquire desired storage battery information from the mobile terminal ifthere is desired storage battery information without storing the storagebattery information at all times, which makes it possible to reduce acommunication load between the communication terminals in the managementserver.

(7) An seventh aspect of the present disclosure provides, in the sixthaspect described above, the storage battery management system furtherincluding a memory that stores date and time information on a date and atime ,on and at which the storage battery information has been acquired,sent from the second communicator to the third communicator, and adisplay that performs a screen display urging a communication terminaluser to update the storage battery information when an update request,based on the stored date and time information, to update the storagebattery information is sent from the third communicator to the secondcommunicator.

With the seventh aspect described above, it is possible to urge thecommunication terminal user to acquire the storage battery informationwhen the storage battery information stored in the communicationterminal has not been updated for a long period of time.

(8) A eighth aspect of the present disclosure provides, in the sixth orseventh aspect described above, the storage battery management systemfurther comprise a manager determines whether or not to provide storagebattery information in accordance with an inquiry depending on a userwho has made the inquiry, and causes the third communicator to send arequest to provide storage battery information in accordance with theinquiry to the second communicator in determining to provide storagebattery information in accordance with the inquiry.

With the eighth aspect described above, it is possible to determine, foreach inquiry user, whether or not to provide storage battery informationabout which an inquiry has been made.

The present disclosure is useful when service is provided to the user bymanaging information on the use of a storage battery.

What is claimed is:
 1. A storage battery management method which is performed in a communication terminal, the storage battery management method comprising: performing communication with a storage battery which is an object to be managed and acquiring storage battery information on a use of the storage battery; storing the acquired storage battery information every time the storage battery information is acquired; and performing communication with a management server managing the storage battery and providing, only when accepting a request for provision of the storage battery information from the management server, storage battery information of the stored storage battery information, the storage battery information in accordance with the request for provision, to the management server.
 2. The storage battery management method according to claim 1, further comprising: providing, to the management server, date and time information on a date and a time on and at which the storage battery information has been acquired.
 3. The storage battery management method according to claim 1, further comprising: performing a screen display urging a communication terminal user to update the storage battery information when the update request to update the storage battery information from the management server is accepted.
 4. The storage battery management method according to claim 1, further comprising: performing a screen display urging a communication terminal user to update the storage battery information when the storage battery information stored in the memory has not been updated for a longer period of time than a predetermined period.
 5. A storage battery management system that manages storage battery information on a use of a storage battery, the storage battery management system comprising: a first communicator that performs communication with a storage battery which is an object to be managed and acquires storage battery information on a use of the storage battery; a storing portion that stores the acquired storage battery information every time the storage battery information is acquired in the first communicator; a second communicator that performs communication with a management server managing the storage battery and, only when accepting a request for provision of the storage battery information from the management server, provides storage battery information of the storage battery information stored in the storing portion, the storage battery information in accordance with the request for provision, to the management server; and a third communicator that receives an inquiry about the storage battery information and sends the request for provision of storage battery information in accordance with the inquiry to the second communicator from the management server.
 6. The storage battery management system according to claim 5, further comprising: a memory that stores date and time information on a date and a time ,on and at which the storage battery information has been acquired, sent from the second communicator to the third communicator; and a display that performs a screen display urging a communication terminal user to update the storage battery information when an update request, based on the stored date and time information, to update the storage battery information is sent from the third communicator to the second communicator.
 7. The storage battery management system according to claim 5, further comprise a manager determines whether or not to provide storage battery information in accordance with an inquiry depending on a user who has made the inquiry, and causes the third communicator to send a request to provide storage battery information in accordance with the inquiry to the second communicator in determining to provide storage battery information in accordance with the inquiry. 